Chapter Thirty Six: Strike Team

Shoto watched Izuku and Katsuki leave the main rest area curiously, but he didn't pry. Although he knew enough about the two of them to feel some concern for whatever was going on, he was also aware they had a very close friendship and it was probably best that he didn't interrupt them. Maybe he'd ask Izuku about it later to see if he could help in some way.

Asking Katsuki would just result in cursing Shoto was becoming more or less totally desensitized to.

As it was, he glanced at Ochako and Tenya, who had also watched their two classmates walk off. He tilted his head after them. "Do you have any idea what that's about?"

"No," Ochako said with a frown. "Deku was fine before the exam started, but he seemed really shaken when we ran into him during the second half of it."

Shoto nodded slightly. "Maybe Katsuki can handle it for now. We should ask him about it later, though."

"Agreed. Hopefully, this won't disturb his focus on the exam," Tenya stated.

"Mmm," Shoto hummed, turning to face the rest of their class only to pause halfway as he spotted the Shiketsu students coming towards them. His eyes locked onto the tall first year they'd run into at the exam entrance—Inasa Yoarashi, as he recalled.

The Shiketsu students approaching didn't put him off.

What did was Inasa's sudden glare in his direction.

The intensity of the look startled Shoto, but not so much that it really disturbed him. Not much fazed Shoto after everything he'd been through as a child. It surprised him more than anything else.

He wound up getting into a sort of passive staring contest with Inasa as the leader of the Shiketsu class—the guy covered in fur—talked to the U.A students about one of their classmates causing trouble for them during the exam. It had something to do with Katsuki, but Shoto wasn't really paying attention at the moment. He was trying to figure out what he'd done to warrant such a tense glare from Inasa. He was pretty sure this was the first time they'd met.

"Shoto? Hey, you there?"

He was jerked out of his thoughts by Eijirou gently bumping his shoulder. "Yes?"

The Shiketsu class leader glanced from Shoto to Inasa, who had stopped glaring for the most part, before sighing. "Oh great…did you two listen to a word I said?"

"Sorry," Shoto apologized earnestly. "I was distracted."

"Big surprise," Inasa muttered.

"Inasa, stop it."

Shoto frowned at the taller boy. "I'm sorry, did I do something to you?"

For some reason, that only seemed to irritate Inasa even more. "You don't even remember the U.A entrance exam, do you? Wow. You really are just like Endeavor."

That had Shoto's spine going ramrod straight. His eyes narrowed. "What was that?"

"Inasa," the Shiketsu leader insisted with an edge in his tone.

Inasa let his shoulders relax, but nothing more. "Sorry, Mr. Endeavor's son, but I hate both of you. Maybe you've changed a bit since last time, but you've still got those damn eyes of his. I refuse to think of either of you as heroes."

With that, Inasa turned and walked away, leaving his classmates and the U.A students in a somewhat deflated state. The Shiketsu leader sighed in exasperation. "It's one hothead after another today…"

Shoto wasn't sure if he was more offended or disturbed by Inasa's accusations. He had Endeavor's eyes? What did that even mean? And what was Inasa on about, talking about the U.A entrance exams?

He shook his head after a few moments, still frowning. It couldn't have been that significant if he couldn't even remember it…right?

The island prison of Tartarus was the most heavily guarded place in Japan, and arguably the entire world. Divided by seven levels in a vast underground construct, every single prisoner was completely restrained and had no contact with the outside world. They were all heavily monitored—everything from their brain waves and vital signs was measured constantly for anomalies, and the moment any of them so much as thought of activating their Quirks, the machine gun turrets in their cells would be aiming at them. And that was just the first line of defense against the prisoners. Tartarus had so many layers of security that escape was literally impossible. It had been named after the Greek God of Hell for a reason, after all.

It had been constructed for just one purpose: to imprison the most evil and twisted criminals in history for the rest of their miserable lives.

All Might, donning one of his old hero costumes, entered a small room with a single chair facing a glass wall. Silently, he took a seat and peered through the glass.

All for One faced him from the other side, heavily restrained in a chair such that even slight movements were immensely difficult. At his side was an IV tube and a breathing apparatus connected to a mask on his face. Above him, several guns were being trained on him.

His faceless head cocked to one side just slightly. "What's with that pitiful costume of yours, All Might? Surely you aren't still working as a hero anymore, right?"

"Of course not," All Might retorted dryly.

"Where's Gran Torino? Or did you come here of your own volition?" All for One prompted. "It's about time for the second semester to start, isn't it? Or has it started already? I figured you'd be completely absorbed in the education of your students…and yet you've come here. Why?"

"To settle things with you."

The Symbol of Evil chuckled. "To settle things, you say…In other words, you've come in the hope that perhaps I'll answer your questions, no?"

Toshinori said nothing for a moment, so the villain pressed on a little more quietly. "Izuku survived, didn't he?"

"No thanks to you."

"That's fair—it was a miscalculation on my part. I didn't anticipate Hisashi doing such a thing to him, but he's always been one to get easily carried away…The damage wasn't permanent, was it?"

"He'll be fine," Toshinori muttered. "And he'll remain far out of your clutches, especially since you're never getting out of here."

"Let's assume that to be the case," the man wheezed out a chuckle. "I think I'm allowed to have some concern over my grandchild's fate, am I not?"

All Might's jaw clenched. "Blood tests have shown that you're no more related to Izuku or Hisashi than any other person. From a genetic standpoint, you aren't his grandfather."

"True enough. Hisashi is a Chimera, after all. The genetic code within him courtesy of me is rather small, as it is within all of my Chimeras, but he's legally my adopted child. So genetically, no, we aren't closely related, but Izuku is still my legal grandchild."

"Did you claim all of your Chimera as your adopted children?"

"Heavens, no," All for One dismissed. "It'd be too easy for you to trace them if that were the case. Hisashi was the exception because I sent him to U.A to investigate you and the hero education system. He needed a concrete legal background I could supervise personally and well…he was always the most free-spirited of my Chimera, especially when he was younger. I felt the need to keep him closer to me than the others."

Toshinori snorted. "You're being awfully chatty today, aren't you? The guards said you've barely spoken a word until now."

"They aren't of any interest to me. You are."

"Because you hate me?"

"Oh please, nothing so petty. You interest me because you're close to Izuku."

"Unfortunately, I'm not at liberty to tell you anything about his personal life save for the fact that he survived the Kamino Incident, and I wouldn't tell you more even if I were allowed to," All Might informed him.

All for One's head fell forward slightly. "Is that so? What a shame…and here I was inclined to share information with you in exchange for getting to know Izuku a little better…"

"Nice try. I'm not buying that for a second," Toshinori retorted. "My turn to ask the questions. Where's Tomura?"

"I don't know. He's already carried on without me."

"Then what are you after? You show all of this interest in Izuku, but you must know that he and Tomura can't stand one another," All Might frowned deeply. "Surely you don't think he'll actually joint the League of Villains?"

All for One was silent for a moment. "Contrary to popular belief, my goals aren't quite as simple and short-sighted as you think. I have multiple reasons for having Izuku interact with the League."

"What are they?"

"For that, you must give me some information in exchange. Sharing is caring."

Even with the mocking way he said it, Toshinori couldn't repress a grimace. "For both our sakes, never repeat that last sentence. It's disturbing coming from you."

All for One laughed uproariously, wheezing and gasping for breath. "Ah…this is refreshing! A real conversation! Well then, how about this? You tell me something simple that I want to know and in return, I'll give you a hint regarding one of my goals with Izuku."

"Nope, not happening. I'm not playing this game of give and take with you, especially concerning Izuku," All Might growled.

A guard's voice on an overhead speaker interrupted them. "Three more minutes, All Might."

All for One's laughter faded and his tone became more serious. "You will not even consider the possibility for information?"

"I don't trust you. For all I know, you could be setting a trap or just outright lying. It wouldn't be the first time you've done that."

"That is true. Our interactions in the past have been less than courteous. Even now…" The villain quieted for a second before sighing. "Very well. I'll tell you something first. What I ask in return is something simple that I could live without. You can choose to respond if you wish it, but I would enjoy even that little bit of knowledge."

All Might's brow furrowed. "You're going to just tell me something for free? That's unlike you."

"In all fairness, you don't know much about me, Yagi," All for One replied stiffly. "Not really."

"Well, spill it, then. Surprise me."

"I want you to consider allowing Izuku to interact with Himiko Toga."

All Might paused. "Why? He's told me more or less what happened between him and Himiko during his captivity, but why would that interest you? I suspected you might have encouraged their interaction as a way to keep him tied to the League. Is that what this is for?"

"It is not. This is…how should I put this? Mutually beneficial for both sides. Somehow, he's managed to work with that exceptionally dangerous side of hers. He's able to bring her to reason."

"I'm still not hearing a good reason as to why I should let them interact. Himiko might suffer from a mental condition, but it's best to have it treated in a hospital," All Might pointed out. "Moreover, I find it hard to believe Tomura and the rest of the League wouldn't just seize the opportunity to kidnap him again."

"They won't. Kurogiri has my orders. He'll find a way to isolate them so Tomura cannot take Izuku."

"Am I supposed to trust that?" Toshinori demanded, becoming more and more suspicious by All for One's insistence on the matter. "Why do you even care about this so much? I've wondered if you were somehow responsible for Himiko's parents being killed and her kidnapping, but up until now, she's been little more than a random villain you caught in your net. Why the sudden interest?"

"My interest is far from sudden, it was simply subdued because I thought she was too unstable to act as anything more than a convenient tool. She's more valuable to me than you know and more dangerous than you could anticipate. Especially right now."

Toshinori's eyes narrowed. What were the odds that the Symbol of Evil was just overstating things in order to make him let down his guard? He could think of plenty of reasons, and yet All for One was giving this information to him freely without asking for anything in return…

He didn't trust this man at all, but he'd play this game, if for no other reason than to possibly gain information on Himiko and All for One's intentions with Izuku.

Cautiously, he spoke again. "Dangerous how?"

"As I recall, Izuku and Himiko made a deal during his captivity that he would help her remain sane in exchange for her no longer attacking people," All for One explained. "Himiko might be unstable, but she keeps her promises, if nothing else. That's when she's sane, though. If as much time as passed as I believe, she likely hasn't had any blood for nearly a month. She's probably on the edge of a killing spree and I'd guess Kurogiri has already taken steps to isolate her from the rest of the League to ensure their safety."

"You sure are worried about a single teenage girl, aren't you?"

"That teenage girl we're speaking of is capable of killing more people than almost anyone else in the League's current roster," All for One warned. "Do not underestimate her."

All Might considered the warning seriously. All for One was an expert actor, but if they had actually gone to the trouble of keeping Himiko separate from the other villains as a way to ensure their safety…What didn't they know about her?

He paused at that thought. "Her kidnapping. So you do know something about it? Was she trained to kill during that time?"

"Yes."

"To what extent?"

"Let me put it this way; in her semi-insane state, most of her kills are done lazily because she doesn't feel the need to exert herself against what her mind perceives as easy prey. The few times she's killed someone in earnest, the bodies either haven't been found or have been attributed to someone else.

"Now she's on the edge of a full-on rampage, courtesy of Izuku trying to persuade her not to kill anyone. If you don't want to wake up to see her kill count increased by the dozen and your protege guilt-ridden, I suggest you find a way for Izuku to calm her down before Kurogiri is unable to contain her any longer."

All Might glared at him. "Why tell me this? Wouldn't it suit you better if she was spreading terror?"

"Doing so would garner attention to her, attention from certain people I don't want her or Tomura to interact with yet. That's why I don't want her to go on a killing spree. You don't want her to do so because of the many lives that would be lost as a result, and the fact that Izuku would certainly blame himself for their deaths."

"And you what, just suddenly felt compelled to do the right thing?" Toshinori suggested scornfully.

"Certainly not for you or society as a whole, no. But I admit that I would very much like to see her and Izuku interact more, if for no other reason than to satiate my own curiosity. Of course, you can do what you want with this information. Choose to use it or to leave it and allow Himiko to kill dozens of people. It would be a shame if she were to die, but I could accept that disappointment in time."

"That sounds more like you," Toshinori muttered under his breath. "So? What's this information you wanted in exchange?"

"Ah…yes. About that…"

The second stage of the Provisional License Exam was completely different from the first.

It was a rescue scenario designed to resemble the Kamino Ward Incident—a vast, destroyed area with a number of Professional Rescuees scattered around to grade the apprentice heroes on their performance. They all posed as civilians of all ages, with various injuries or conditions the heroes had to deal with accordingly as the situation developed. The test would only conclude once every "civilian" was successfully evacuated to the emergency first-aid station.

Class 1-A didn't have a lot of rescue experience, so starting off had been a bit rough, but they caught on quickly enough and got into the flow of things.

"Hanta, we need some of your tape over here!" Momo called to the other teen as she knelt beside a "civilian" they'd just pulled from the rubble. "We've got a child with a broken leg! He needs a temporary cast and someone to carry him to the station! Toru, can you get him there?"

"Yes, I'll get him!"

"Guys, I can hear more people beneath the rubble here!" Mezo called with one of his tentacles, another one halfway down a hole. "Rikido, I could use your help clearing this debris out!"

"I'll be right over!"

Izuku checked out another "civilian" they'd found wandering in confusion amidst the debris and panicking. It was a quick scan to determine if the individual had any severe injuries and their mental state, but they couldn't afford to spend too much time on every person with the number of trapped people. As long as they could get them all to the emergency first-aid station as quickly and safely as possible, they'd do fine on this exam.

This particular civilian wasn't badly hurt save for a few scrapes. He set his hand on the woman's shoulder and offered a nervous smile. "You'll be alright. You aren't hurt much, so go with Toru over there and she'll take you and that little boy to the first-aid station."

"Th-thank you!" The woman sobbed, following Izuku's directions to Toru and going with her to the first-aid station. Sheesh, these Professional Rescuees were really good actors.

Izuku jogged over to Katsuki, who was with Kyoka and Tsuyu near a big concrete wall. Kyoka had heard someone inside the destroyed building, but they'd yet to find a way inside.

"Still nothing?" He asked.

Katsuki looked back at him. "Nothing yet."

"There's airflow, but I can't pinpoint the source," Kyoka grimaced. "How did they even get in there?"

"Might be an underground entrance or something," Izuku said, chewing on his lip. "Do you think you can crack it open with a small explosion?"

"I'd rather not," Katsuki muttered as he looked up at the building. "This thing's not stable at all. The other side is half caved-in. If I rupture it too much, it might just collapse on the guy inside."

"Guys!" Tsuyu called, peering from the top of the destroyed roof. "There's an opening here on the ceiling! The civilian inside isn't hurt, but he's too deep for me to reach! Could you get Fumikage to help me get him?"

"I'll send him over!" Izuku called back, bumping Katsuki's shoulder. "C'mon, let's send Fumikage over and then—"

The sound of a massive explosion had everyone whipping towards the source of the blast. As the debris from the destroyed flank of the stadium settled, the young heroes in-training stiffened.

A huge number of "villains" had invaded the evacuation site. In this scenario, these guys would have been the criminals who committed the act of terrorism and were back for more.

At their head was a massive figure of black and white, clawed hands and the deep eyes surveying the evacuation site dangerously. The tall, dorsal fin on his spine was a dead giveaway to his identity.

"Th-that's Gang Orca!" Gasped Denki. "They sent in the Rank Ten hero for this?!"

Momo's gaze flew from the villains to her fellow class president, knowing immediately that he might have a solution figured out. Just as she'd anticipated, Izuku's eyes were locked onto Orca in that sharp, analyzing way she knew meant he was working on a plan to deal with their new enemies.

"Izuku!" She called, getting his attention. "I'll handle the evacuation efforts here with the others! Can you get a team together to deal with the villains until the rescue is finished?"

He nodded and considered their options. Izuku knew Gang Orca's Quirk well—just as Tsuyu was similar to a frog, Orca, true to his name, was biologically similar to a Killer Whale. His mind reached for the knowledge he had on the powerful hero and he rifled through it; strengths, weaknesses, environmental factors…The abilities his friends had and what he could do with them in order to counteract this threat in the best way possible…

Orca's greatest weapon against them was his powerful sonic blasts, which doubled as a form of echolocation. It gave him a way to attack them at range and track enemies attempting to sneak up on him, so they'd need to disable that first. He had several ideas on how to do that, but only one or two that might be enough to completely immobilize the Pro. Getting close to him was going to be tricky because of his incredible physical might, even if they did stop his sonic blasts. He couldn't hope to overpower Orca with just Overdrive. No, they'd have to pin him down somehow…

"Katsuki, Kyoka, Shoto, myself, and…" Izuku paused as he thought about his final pick. They needed a fifth person to clinch this plan of his, someone who could give them a bit of extra mobility…ah.

"Ochako," he decided, causing her to blink at him in surprise. "You four are with me! We'll deal with Orca while Momo and the others take care of the civilians here!"

Izuku bolted towards the incoming villains with Katsuki and Shoto quickly falling into step beside him. Kyoka and Ochako followed swiftly, the former calling after their class president. "Izuku, what's the plan!? There's just five of us to go up against all of those villains!"

"It'll be fine!" He called back. "Shoto and I will use our Quirks to isolate Gang Orca from those minor villains and keep them from reaching the evacuation site! Once we've got him on his own, Katsuki, Shoto, and I need to attack him at a distance to keep his attention!"

"Then what are Ochako and I here for?!" Kyoka demanded.

"You two are the key to this plan!" Izuku replied. "Listen carefully! We'll only get one chance to pull this off!"

Miss Joke pursed her lips as she watched the five man team from U.A race towards Gang Orca and his cronies. "Your students are too sure of themselves to send such a small group after someone as powerful as Orca, aren't they? They should at least have brought double that number. Even if their goal is simply to stall for time, they'll add to the casualty count like this…"

"It'd be easy to think that at first glance," Aizawa agreed. "The rescue effort was always going to be the most difficult for my class since they don't have much experience with it. We've focused mostly on combat in the short time they've been at U.A. But I think they made the right decision here—with more victims than villains, the strike team needs to be effective and compact so the larger rescue team can focus on saving the civilians. 1A's class president and vice president are both natural leaders and have excellent judgement when they get their acts together. Letting Momo take the reins on the rescue effort was the right choice since Izuku undoubtedly needs to lead their makeshift combat team."

"Why is that?" She queried.

Aizawa stared pointedly at the green figure leading the strike team. "Izuku's got a habit of storing ridiculous amounts of information about heroes in his head. Against someone as well-known as Gang Orca, he's probably aware of his every ability and already has several plans figured out to counter him. He's a smart kid in his element. I'm not worried about them biting off more than they can chew, I'm just curious as to what he's got planned to deal with someone like Orca, and how the four he's brought along will play their parts."

Joke grinned at him teasingly. "You've really fallen for this class, haven't you?"

"No," he denied bluntly. "They're worth my time, that's all."

Gang Orca paused in his advance as an explosion blasted the front of his minions' line. The faux-villains yelped and shouted when a wall of ice in a V-shape closed their boss off, freezing several of them in place. Another wave of ice made a temporary barrier between the minions and the main evacuation site.

Orca looked at the origin point of the ice walls and spotted the small U.A strike team—Shoto, currently emanating flames from his left side to warm himself up and provide Izuku with fire to transmute, and Katsuki, who was currently standing at the front of the group.

Before he could so much as take a step towards them, the assault began.

Katsuki rushed Orca in a wide circle with his explosions to accelerate his speed and immediately unleashed a series of large, concussive blasts on the run. The Pro lifted an arm against the attack, which was more annoying than anything at their current range. He prepared a sonic blast to counterattack, only to be forced to leap back in order to avoid a surge of emerald fire.

Izuku and Shoto had joined the fray, the former now juiced with emerald fire courtesy of his dual-element classmate. Shoto launched a stream of ice after Orca as soon as Izuku's attack ended, and once the Pro dodged that, Katsuki was blasting him from behind and forcing him to avoid yet another assault. The triple-threat team launched attack after attack at him, keeping Orca on his toes and providing minimal opportunity for counter play.

It was a good plan, the Pro thought to himself. He had to aim his sonic blasts at a target for them to really be effective, so by splitting up and attacking him from different angles over and over again, it reduced the potency of his echolocation-based moves. The most irritating by far was Katsuki's near-constant barrage of explosions. They didn't do a lot of damage given their small size and distance from Orca, but the endless popping messed with his echolocation and it was starting to give him a headache.

Annoyed, he attempting to focus on Katsuki's location, only for Shoto to launch a burst of ice at him as soon as he did. Orca leapt away from the ice and found himself faced with emerald flames next, which he also dodged. As soon as he spun towards the source to try and launch a sonic blast in retaliation, Katsuki regained his attention with an exceptionally large blast that sent waves of pain through his head.

They weren't even really hurting him, just compromising his ability to counterattack and making him more irritated than anything else. It didn't help that he was weighed down by the restraints he had to wear—the same ones the teachers at U.A had worn during the Practical Exam, designed to even the odds between Pros and students by making the Pros heavier.

But Orca was Rank Ten for a reason. Before long, he spotted the weak link and struck at it.

Of the three teenagers barraging him, Shoto was the least mobile by far. Whilst Izuku and Katsuki threw attacks at him on the run, Shoto stopped most of the time before attacking and didn't move nearly as quickly even on his ice streams.

As soon as Orca dodged another one of Katsuki's explosions, he anticipated the ice blast coming his way and simply unleashed a sonic pulse straight through it. The wave of sound crashed into Shoto and sent him staggering, giving Orca an opportunity to jump on.

Or at least, he would have if the ground didn't start quaking beneath his feet in the same moment a tornado appeared around him. Having joined the fray near the entrance to the ice walls that contained Orca, Yo stood up a little shakily after triggering such a powerful earthquake. "You newbies need more than three people to suppress him! Are you even thinking?"

The Pro's eyes snapped up to see Inasa floating above him, guiding winds in a violent, but tight cyclone to keep Orca trapped. Inasa grinned. "Mind if I join in?!"

The grin faded as he caught sight of Shoto. "Oh great, you're here."

"Who the fuck do you asshats think you are, coming uninvited?!" Katsuki roared from somewhere behind Orca—the Pro could see him amidst the flying debris, but he could still hear just fine. "Deku, what now?! They're screwing things up!"

"Let me worry about that! You just stick to the plan!" Izuku shouted back.

Ah, so they did have a strategy to counter me, Orca thought, watching curiously. And now their allies have unexpectedly interrupted things. Will they still make it work, or is this plan of theirs too delicate to adapt to change?

Izuku was thinking the same thing, and he quickly made changes to the current plan. "Yo, trigger weak quakes at him whenever he lands! Don't stay in one place or he'll catch you! Inasa, help blow him away if he tries to attack, but watch out for sonic blasts!"

Orca spotted Izuku through the whirl of debris as the teenager darted around his right flank in a circle, green fire streaming behind him. So you're the mastermind, are you? I should take you first…

The Pro, however, was quickly subjected to an even more furious barrage as Katsuki's latest batch of explosions peppered his back, followed by a weak quake from Yo, (which was just enough to keep his feet unsteady) and then a stream of fire from Shoto—that was then thrown off-course by Inasa's wind.

"What are you doing?!" Inasa snapped at the dual-element wielder. "Heat makes wind unstable! I can't attack if you do that!"

"That's my line!" Shoto retorted. "Things were fine before you showed up! If anything, you're throwing off my attacks!"

Orca observed the argument, unimpressed, as he dodged another assault wave from the ones who were still doing their jobs properly. Are the two of them really letting their personal differences get between them in a battle? It's hard to believe they're from the top two hero schools with such sloppy attitudes.

"Inasa, just focus on keeping Orca away from us!" Izuku called up. "Don't engage!"

"I'm not working with a guy like him!" Inasa snapped back, bringing his arm back to prepare another blast of wind. "He's no different than Endeavor!"

Shoto's eyes narrowed angrily as he launched another stream of flame at Orca, only for it to crash into Inasa's wind again—and misfire an infernal conflagration straight at Yo, who was recovering from the aftershocks of his latest earthquake. Unable to dodge, he could only watch the blaze coming his way.

An emerald blur darted in front of Yo, hands held forward to intercept the inferno with his own green flames. A jet-like sound was produced as the flames were transmuted almost instantly, giving Izuku total control of the rogue fire.

Shoto and Inasa froze as Izuku snapped a furious glare onto them. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

Neither of them had a chance to respond as Orca seized the opportunity to blast a sonic pulse at Inasa while charging Shoto and delivering a vicious, backhanded blow that sent the teen flying into an ice wall behind him. The two attacks hit their marks and stunned the pair of teenagers, taking them out of commission.

The sound of explosions flying up in the air behind him had Orca half-turning to intercept a possible attack from Katsuki, but he stopped dead at a whirlwind of emerald fire surrounding him. A figure darted into the green twister, a massive surge of flame and plasma arcing off his right fist as he struck at Orca.

Unfazed, the Pro caught the attack with one of his large, clawed hands. The heat and plasma hurt, yes, but he could take it long enough to overpower the teenager. Orca's eyes narrowed at Izuku. "Trying to hurry and settle things now that your plan has fallen apart? That kind of inflexibility will get you…"

Orca paused for a moment as he studied Izuku's face. He didn't look panicked or angry like he'd expected.

He was smiling.

A weight suddenly dropped onto his shoulders and as Orca prepared a sonic blast to counterattack, a pair of hands grasped his head. "Heartbeat Fuzz!"

The sonic dissonance concentrated at his head had Orca screeching at the top of his lungs, his body going rigid. Kyoka locked her ankles together under his throat to keep herself in place, as both of them were paralyzed by the horrific waves of sound surging through them. Even with that, the only reason she didn't totally fall off was because she was half-falling against the fin on Orca's head.

It felt like her body was turning to jelly with every second she was exposed to the unbelievably strong pulses of noise, but Kyoka had him—she had Orca stunned. She couldn't overpower him by any means, but she had him immobilized if only for a few moments. She screamed over the paralyzing waves. "HURRY!"

"Just hold him, Kyoka!" Izuku shouted, having been released from Orca's grasp. He let the curtain of emerald flames sputter out as he yelled and lunged at the Pro. "Ochako, do it now! Go, go, go!"

Orca's body was suddenly floating up a few inches, and then he was being forced to his hands and knees by two sets of hands, unable to resist as he was. Thick layers of ice crawled up his arms, legs, and back, careful to avoid freezing Kyoka. It didn't cause him much pain, resistant to the cold as he was, but it was thick and strong enough to prevent him from breaking free immediately.

Kyoka was suddenly dragged from his shoulders and the sonic pulses ceased, freeing Orca of the paralysis, but leaving him unable to escape the cocoon of ice.

From the instant Kyoka had been dropped onto him to the moment she was pulled off, just fifteen seconds had passed.

Kyoka dropped to the ground with Izuku's help and threw up a few feet away from the trapped Pro. Izuku could only pull her short hair back for her and let the girl get the sickness out of her system while Katsuki took the reigns for a moment.

He'd dragged Shoto over since the teen was still stunned from Orca's attack so he could do his part of the plan. Now Katsuki let Shoto go, scoffing as the boy collapsed. "You nearly fucked us over, icy-hot."

"I know," Shoto managed, wincing in pain from Orca's blow. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you better be sorry," Katsuki snapped, but left it at that in favor of aiming his grenade gauntlet at the back of Orca's head. The Pro was only able to really focus sound blasts from the front of his skull, which Izuku had warned them of. Now that he was immobilized, they could avoid any serious sonic waves as long as they stayed behind Orca's line of fire.

"Deku, should I release him from the zero gravity?" Ochako asked without taking her eyes off the Pro.

"Yeah, you can," Izuku replied, glancing away from Kyoka over his shoulder. "He's trapped, so your Quirk shouldn't affect him much anymore. Where's Yo and Inasa?"

"Yo's fine," she told him, gesturing to the older teen that was now resting behind them. "Inasa's still down, but he's not in Orca's line of fire. I'll bring him over here."

"Yeah, better not risk any of the weaker villains finding him," he agreed, watching her run towards Inasa's downed form. Izuku looked back to Kyoka, who was done retching and trying to regain her breath. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," she muttered. "I'm dizzy and I feel like shit, but I'm good."

Izuku carefully helped her sit up. "Just sit still for a bit and recover. The test should be over soon…"

A loud, long siren confirmed his guess, followed by the announcer's voice. "If I could have your attention please. All members of the H.U.C have been rescued from the crisis zone, so I am now bringing the Provisional License Examination to a close."

The teenagers—sans Katsuki—all breathed sighs of relief. Shoto managed to stagger to his feet and lay his left hand against Orca's frozen prison. "Here, I'll melt the ice."

Orca waited in silence for the ice to melt and rose to his feet soon after, shaking the remaining fragments off his body. He looked at the group of young heroes with curious eyes, watching as Izuku, Katsuki, and Ochako helped their injured allies up to carry them to the medical office.

"Boss?" Orca paused and turned to spot his sidekicks, the "villains", approach him. Some looked like they'd taken a bit of a battering, probably from fighting some of the other students after Shoto had walled them off with his ice. "Sorry we couldn't help much. We got jumped by a group of them as soon as we found a way around the ice wall."

"It's fine," Orca dismissed, shaking his head for a moment to chuckle in slight amazement. "I was captured myself."

His sidekicks stared at him in disbelief, but Orca ignored them in favor of repeating the fight in his head. A lot of things were starting to make sense, namely why Katsuki hadn't bothered to hit him with really big explosions and settled for weak ones.

He was trying to keep me from detecting the two girls with my echolocation, Orca realized. The whole assault from those three was just a sham to buy time and get me to let my guard down for an instant. Towards the end there, I thought the green one was using the explosions above me as a distraction…But really, he was the one doing the distracting.

The more he thought about it, the more he was amazed by how he'd been played. Izuku had taken a few moments to distract Orca from Katsuki, just long enough for the explosive teen to maneuver Kyoka, made weightless by Ochako's Quirk, above Orca to spring the trap. With Kyoka stunning him via their clashing sonic blasts, Ochako had removed his gravitational pull in order to easily shift his heavy body for capture.

The whole plan could have easily failed because of Shoto and Inasa clashing, but all in all…the strategy had been sound and the final act was performed flawlessly.

Mind you, Orca had been slowed down by the weights on his body and he was always weaker fighting on land than in the water—and against two people with powerful fire Quirks, no less. If the battle had been in his element, the students wouldn't have stood a chance, but even handicapped as he was, capturing him was no easy feat.

They'd done well.

Izuku slipped on a hoodie in his room and glanced out the window. It felt like he'd been gone for the entire day, but it was barely noon. So much had already happened today…

In the end, nearly his entire class had passed the Provisional License Exam and earned their licenses—with the exception of Shoto. He and Inasa had both failed the test for nearly striking Yo with their clashing Quirks. Fortunately for them, there was a makeup course they could take in order to earn their licenses.

Katsuki had passed by the skin of his teeth due to the language he used when rescuing the H.U.C members. The only reason he managed to get the license was because of how well he'd executed his part in their fight against Orca.

Speaking of Katsuki…

A knock at his door had Izuku jumping, but he quickly answered. "Come in!"

The spiky-haired teen walked in and shut the door behind him, his face set in a passive scowl. He leaned back against the wall, arms crossing as he glared at Izuku.

Izuku managed a weak smile. "I deserve that."

"Yeah," Katsuki muttered. He was silent for a few seconds before shaking his head. "I still think this is suicide."

"I know."

"There's no way I can convince you to tell the Pros, either."

"She has to come to them willingly, Katsuki," Izuku insisted. "I won't betray her like that. She doesn't have a lot of people she trusts as it is."

"Of course not," Katsuki scoffed, turning his glare to the wall. Izuku half-expected it to catch fire. "I'm not changing my mind. If things get ugly, I'm going to blow her into a million pieces."

"I know," the green-haired boy hesitated. "But you have to let me try to calm her down first, okay? No matter how this goes Katsuki, she's going to take some of my blood. That's the only way I can make her settle. You can't intervene unless she's trying to outright kill me or you'll make things worse."

"What, you want me to watch her cut you up?"

"Not that, but…Maybe help me keep her from going overboard?"

Katsuki rolled his eyes and sighed in exasperation. "You know, you're going to get us killed doing this stuff."

"I really hope not."

Getting permission to leave campus for lunch wasn't hard, and Izuku mentioned that they might visit his mother and Eri while they were at it to cover them being gone for too long. Either way, they weren't allowed to come back any later than nine, when curfew was enforced.

Himiko had sent the address to Izuku shortly after the exam ended, guiding them to an apartment complex just fifteen minutes away from campus.

It was a pretty nice building. Nothing extravagant, but definitely better than the hole in the wall the two of them were expecting. Izuku led them to the apartment number Himiko had listed on the third floor and they both stopped in front of it.

Katsuki glanced up and down the empty hall, scowling deeply. There weren't a lot of people around since most of them were busy at work anyway, but even so…

"You sure this is the place?"

"This is the one…" Izuku muttered, looking down at his phone just to be sure. He pocketed the device and looked at his friend. "She said to come in whenever we got here. The door should be unlocked."

The green-haired teenager shrugged off his hoodie and wrapped it around his right arm, prompting Katsuki's eyebrow to rise. "What's that for?"

"I'm sure she's got a knife on her. I don't think she'll try to stab us, but…" Izuku bit his lip nervously. "She was really rattled, Katsuki. I just want to be safe."

"Nothing about this is safe."

Izuku inclined his head in agreement and gave him one last glance. "I go first, okay?"

Katsuki was silent for a moment before taking a deep breath through his nose and tensing his body. "Yeah, alright."

They both went completely silent as Izuku twisted the doorknob and pushed the door in, entering the apartment cautiously. He glanced around the open room for any sign of Himiko, only to freeze upon spotting swirling black mist in the kitchen to his left.

Kurogiri turned away from the sink to look at them and held his hands up quickly. "It's okay. It's just me."

Izuku stayed still for a moment and debated just getting out of there while Katsuki glared venomously at the villain. Kurogiri being here meant that the League was just one warp gate away from reaching the two boys.

Kurogiri kept his arms up so the two of them could see what he was doing. "I assure you, Izuku, I'm not here to cause you any harm. I will not try to capture you or your…friend."

Izuku's internal debate lasted a few more seconds before he hesitantly closed the door behind them, but he didn't take his hand off of it. "Where's Himiko?"

The villain turned his head to look down a hall opposite them. "She's in the farthest room down the hall on the right. She was becoming increasingly unstable after coming back from the Exam Site, so I decided to lock her in her room until you arrived."

"So why are you here?" Katsuki growled dangerously.

"To ensure no one is injured," Kurogiri replied. "I have orders to keep Izuku alive. With Himiko being so dangerous right now, I have a responsibility to prevent her from causing you serious harm."

"And I suppose after that, you'll just conveniently take him to make sure he 'recovers', won't you?" Katsuki snarled.

"I will do no such thing. If he needs first-aid, I can administer it here. My orders were clear: Tomura is not ready for Izuku to be at his side and vice-versa. I'm just the mediator here, nothing more. I will not go against my orders and make a mess of this."

Katsuki wasn't buying that for a second, but he decided to at least check the place out and see if there was anything they needed to be wary of. At least he knew the foggy bastard's weakness.

He'd blow the fucker up if he so much as twitched in the wrong direction.

Izuku bit his lip, his face turning to one of concern. "How is she?"

Kurogiri's hands fell as he glanced down the hall, watching Katsuki stalk down it to inspect the first bedroom on the right. "She's…unwell. She had another episode after coming back here and I didn't dare approach her."

"Episode?"

"It's an attack of some kind," the villain explained. "I suppose it's like withdrawal symptoms alcoholics experience when they're trying to go sober. It's caused her no small discomfort. Speaking of which, avoid touching her right arm if you can. When we escaped the conflict at Kamino, she stabbed Hisashi and he burned her in retaliation."

Izuku choked on his own spit and Katsuki's head flew out of the bathroom on the left side of the hall to stare at Kurogiri with his mouth half-open. "She what?"

"She stabbed Hisashi," Kurogiri repeated. "They were both in shock, so she hardly scratched him and he barely burned her, but she came out of that worse off than he. She was furious with him for bringing Izuku to harm."

Katsuki scowled in disappointment. "Dammit, I was hoping she killed that asshole."

Kurogiri merely shrugged as the blonde teen grumbled and stalked around the corner of the hall to reach the last bedroom.

"I removed all the blades I could find while she was at the Exam Site," Kurogiri told Izuku, jerking him out of his momentary shock. "She should be unarmed, but she's got a talent for hiding weapons."

Izuku swallowed hard and considered that. "I think it'll be fine. If I can just get her to bite me instead of stick a knife into—"

"Uh, fog-fucker?!" Katsuki's voice suddenly garnered their attention. He walked around the corner of the hall with his thumb gesturing behind him. "You said she was in the locked room, right?"

"Yes."

"The locked room with the door wide open."

The three of them were very quiet for a few seconds.

Kurogiri strode down the hall and glanced around the corner, confirming Katsuki's discovery. He pushed the door open and looked inside, but found the room devoid of its inhabitant.

Izuku swallowed hard as Katsuki quickly walked back over to him. Kurogiri came back from around the hall's corner, tense and nervous.

"She's not in there."

"What the fuck do you mean, she's not in there?!" Katsuki hissed dangerously. "Did she jump out the window?"

"She didn't leave," Izuku whispered hoarsely. "She picked the lock and got out. She's in here with us."

That did not make them feel any better.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Katsuki growled lowly, his eyes darting around the room for any sign of the blonde girl.

"We have to find her," Kurogiri said quickly, striding into the first bedroom in search of his charge in case Katsuki had missed something.

Izuku made his way to the bathroom on the left and hesitantly opened it. Katsuki followed him, hands clenched and ready for a fight.

The bathroom seemed empty, but…Izuku could feel that odd sensation in his head, the same one he'd experienced during the first part of the exam earlier that day. He swallowed and held an arm out to keep Katsuki from coming in any further. "Himiko? Are you in here?"

He didn't get an answer, but he kept talking anyways. "It's just me, okay? Katsuki's my friend. He's not here to hurt you, I promise. He's just looking out for me. I came just like I said I would. Come on…let me help you."

Izuku slowly pulled the shower curtain aside to look into the tub, but found it disappointingly empty.

He turned around to look at the mirror and found himself nose-to-nose with slitted golden eyes.

A half-shriek escaped him and Katsuki jerked back in shock, eyes wide. Himiko had appeared seemingly out of nowhere and he caught only a brief glimpse of something black fading away from her skin before Izuku staggered back in fright and fell in a heap into the bathtub.

Kurogiri threw the door open to see what was going on, but froze as Himiko shot him and Katsuki murderous look. "Leave."

Katsuki felt the hairs on his neck prickle and hesitated with his mouth half-open to retort, but not before she hissed, exposing dangerously sharp canines. "Leave."

Izuku scrambled to his feet and held his hands out to Himiko, as if trying to calm a distressed predator. "Himiko, it's okay. Katsuki isn't going to do anything. Just—just focus on me. I'm here, let me help you."

She turned her focus to Izuku and seemed to consider that for a few moments until Katsuki growled. "Don't you dare try to kill him, blondie—"

The only warning they got was Himiko's glance at Katsuki and a dangerous haziness crossing over her golden orbs.

Izuku barely grabbed her in time to yank the girl away from his friend, preventing her from slashing Katsuki's throat with a knife she'd kept hidden in her shirt sleeve. Kurogiri's gaseous form roiled as he pushed Katsuki back to intercept any more attacks, but Izuku spun with Himiko's arm in his grasp and pulled her into the tub with him.

Her aggression went from Katsuki to him and the blade would have pierced Izuku's chest had Kurogiri not warped between them to direct the knife towards the floor, where it broke against the tile. Himiko yanked her hand out of the gate and Izuku was quick to disarm her of the broken knife, then grabbed her other wrist and spun them so she was pinned to the wall by his body.

"Himiko, stop!" Izuku cried as she struggled violently, snarling like an animal. She was putting up such a fight, he had to activate One for All just to keep her immobilized. When he was sure he had her pinned, he waited until she ceased her struggling, panting from exertion with her eyes wild and unfocused.

"That's it, look at me," he murmured, encouraging her to focus on him. "You're okay. You need my blood, I know."

"Zu…Izu…" She sounded delirious, eyes rolling and her golden orbs fogging with something insane.

"Katsuki, help me get my shirt off," Izuku called back to his friend quietly. "We have to do this here. I can't let her go or she's gonna kill someone."

Katsuki was ready to blow Himiko into bloody smithereens, but he was willing to trust Izuku with this—his friend hadn't gotten them killed yet.

Yet.

Slowly, he approached Izuku from behind and lifted his shirt off. It was tense for a moment, as Izuku had to pin Himiko's wrists with one hand and then the other to shrug it off completely, but as soon as it was done, Katsuki backed off.

Izuku kept Himiko's hands pinned above her head, watching as her eyes rolled over his exposed torso with a hungry expression. "Okay…Himiko, look at me."

Her gaze flitted up to meet his and he offered her a shaky smile. "It's alright, I'll keep you together. You can start. I won't stop you."

A keening whine escaped her throat as Izuku released her wrists and wrapped his arms tightly around her back to keep her from getting away. Then her sharp teeth were burying themselves into his flesh and the warm, iron flavor of blood flowed over her tongue.

Izuku gasped at the sharp bite and winced as she started to take his blood quickly. He felt her nails digging into his stomach, leaving bloody furrows in his skin. Glancing down, he could see his blood flowing down her chin and dripping into a mess down his torso and her shirt. Her eyes were fluttering, half-open and hazy in delirium.

Suddenly, he felt dizzy and almost staggered. As it was, he tried to slowly sit down, only for Himiko to practically shove him onto his back in the tub and pin him down, her teeth still embedded tightly in his flesh.

Everything became a blur after that and Izuku felt the weight atop him suddenly disappear, then Katsuki shouted and he heard a gurgling wail from Himiko as his world went black…

A/N: Okay, so there are a couple of things regarding the story I want to address real quick.

First, regarding the rating change I suggested last time. The possibility of the story becoming M-Rated is more for the language and violence factors than anything else. As I'm sure you've already noticed by reading up to this point, there's been a fair share of cursing and the story has become somewhat more violent since the Training Camp arc, and there will be more scenes similar to those in upcoming arcs. I'm not talking about crazy excessive violence, or violence for the sake of violence, but I'm sure the story is already kind of toeing that fine line between a T-Rating and an M-Rating. Again, this hasn't been decided yet and I might make a poll to see what the majority of my readers think about this.

A lot of you were concerned that an M-Rating might just be made in order to introduce lemons or something similar, so let me address that real quick: I stand by what I've said when writing this story and any relationships that may or may not get progression- I'm not going to rush things or write unnecessary romance if it doesn't have a solid base behind it. These characters are teenagers in that awkward growth phase where they're cusping adulthood and figuring themselves out. If I do decide that maybe a mature scene would fit the story later on, (much, MUCH later, like no sooner than year two of their school life, later) I'll make sure to post a warning at the start of the chapter and before said scene, but again, this is just a possibility at the moment and it's in no way concrete in my plans for the story. The M-Rating change would be, again, mostly to cover the other mature themes such as violence and language. If you have any questions or concerns about it, feel free to shoot me a message or leave a review. (Just remember I can't respond to guest reviews, okay?)

Second, the suggestion was made to create a discord server for you readers to discuss Viridescent with each other! I have no idea how many people are into this, but I figured it might be entertaining if nothing else, so I'll probably make a server for it later today after everyone finishes reading the chapter and I see how many people are interested. Yes, I'll be running it and I'll probably pop in to chat with you guys if you are interested. I guess just ask me for a link to the server, but be patient with me because I'm not great with discord lol.

Third and finally, Viridescent has a TV Tropes page now, woohoo! Go check it out, a couple of my readers have been working on it of their own volition and it's turning out pretty good I think, but it could always use more input. I don't know a ton about TV Tropes, but have at it if that's your thing! If you're interested, get in touch with ssjSega, he might be able to help out.

As always, special thanks to my beta readers Walk the Max Planck and FoxOnPie for helping me work on this chapter, and Max has recently been doing beta reading for another My Hero Academia author, Saint Danielle, who is writing a really interesting story called Out of Time. I took a look at it and I loved what's there so far, so go check it out. It's still pretty young, but I think it'll be really good with them working on it.

Wow, that was a long author's note. As ever, please review and thanks for reading!